{"id":10503,"date":"2010-06-22T21:31:03","date_gmt":"2010-06-23T01:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/?p=10503"},"modified":"2010-06-23T18:40:13","modified_gmt":"2010-06-23T22:40:13","slug":"submission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/2010\/06\/submission\/","title":{"rendered":"Submission"},"content":{"rendered":"

A very thoughtful letter from David Meyer that he writes to the members of the Presbysterian church he had attended and the reasons he is in the process of converting to the Catholic Church. I read the letter<\/a> this weekend and the points he made have been in the back of my mind since then. \u00a0I encourage you to read it first since it is well worth your time.<\/p>\n

He notices that families have been leaving this church for reasons others than ones central to the Reformed faith and the reasons they left do to some aspect of authority. \u00a0The problem with Sola Scriptura especially in regards to authority is an important one. \u00a0What it always comes down to is to whose interpretation of scripture do you hold to and ultimately you become that interpreter since you pick the interpret that agrees with you.<\/p>\n

The problem with this doctrine is that when a believer disagrees with the leaders he is supposed to submit to, he then finds other leaders that agree with his interpretation to submit to. This is not submitting to church authority, it is submitting to self. Submitting to yourself is just another way of saying you don’t submit at all! There is a helpful way to remember this concept:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I only submit when I agree, the one to whom I submit is me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amen to that. Submitting only to what you want is the very pick and choose that defines heresy in the first place.<\/p>\n

The exact same thing can be said about obedience. \u00a0A subject I have written about in the past that if you are only obedient on subjects you agree with then you are not really obedient at all. \u00a0I think of the lives of the saints which have shown us holy obedience. \u00a0That even when they were unjustly persecuted or given what might have been an task by a superior \u00a0that was not prudential that the saint would be obedient without griping about it. \u00a0Submitting ourselves to one outside of us is difficult — especially in the climate of radical individualism we have grown up in. \u00a0Ultimately it is Christ we must submit ourselves to and we learn to do this also through submitting to those God has placed over us. \u00a0Submission seems to have become a dirty word it seems — getting your way is where it is at.<\/p>\n

So much if not all of the dissent within the Church comes down to disobedience and people submitting only to themselves or those who agree with them. \u00a0Which is why so much of the dissent within the Church is akin to Protestantism in that where you disagree with the magisterium you find other like-minded dissenters to band with. \u00a0This is true of progressives or radical traditionalists.<\/p>\n

Those that disagree with the Church are not willing to be patient and to pray for the Church in regards to whatever they think the Church is wrong on. \u00a0If they really believed the Holy Spirit was behind the changes they sought they would pray for this instead of taking the vain “I am right, and the Church has to catch up with me.” \u00a0The vanities of the Martin Luther types against the Church thinking how brave and good they are. \u00a0They have submitted to an authority that does not extend beyond their grasp.<\/p>\n

He determines that his options are:<\/p>\n

A. Remain with Reformed Christianity and continue the cycle of \u201cself submission\u201d, knowing in my heart it is wrong.<\/p>\n

B. Some form of non-theism,<\/p>\n

C.\u201cChoose-your-own-adventure\u201d Christianity that I self consciously make up for myself and do not worry about submitting to church authority.<\/p>\n

D. Submit to a form of Christianity that does not subscribe to Sola Scriptura and which has a interpretive authority which can plausibly claim to be led by the Holy Spirit, so as to remove myself as the authority. Christianity that I self consciously make up for myself and do not worry about submitting to church authority.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cChoose-your-own-adventure\u201d Christianity – talk about an accurate term. This describes so much. I have also called it “Mirror Christianity” as a pun on C.S. Lewis’ book and the fact that people are really affirming themselves in what they believe.<\/p>\n

Mr. Meyer describes his reasons for choosing “D” and specifically the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Church is the only option left. In many ways it is a bitter pill to swallow for me. I have been very critical of Catholic doctrine as a Protestant. Much that they believe I am not inclined to believe. But I will have to submit to the mind of what I must believe is the church Christ founded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In my own conversion I came to believe in the Church before I believed in each of her doctrines. As an atheist I had less prejudices to deal with compared to Protestants coming into the Church – but still I had to work through each doctrine. The beauty of the Church is how accessible her doctrines are to reason once you are able to explore them and see the orchestra of truth that is the Catholic faith.<\/p>\n

I pray that David Meyer and his family come to fully see that truth.<\/p>\n

Hat tip to Francis Beckwith<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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